Tuesday, 5 August 2014

Roma

Well having posted some recent images from a few weeks back, I'll post some from a little bit further in the past. These images are from Rome, and were taken on a family holiday in February. As ever with holidays, wildlife is never far from my focus, and I like to take some of my gear with me. On the continent then the collection of common birds are different to the ones I'm used to, and commonest and most ubiquitous of them all are the Black Redstarts. I love these birds, and I've photographed them a number of times. One thing about these birds i've always missed though is the male birds in full breeding plumage, as I usually miss that time of year. So I capitalised on the fact I found many in Rome, such as this one on a not-so-roman piece of the Colosseum...

This one was frequenting a piece of ancient masonry in a ruined city near the coast...

...This one was enjoying the rough ground between railway line and surrounding houses...

in the Roman forum the number of birds increased markedly, giving me excellent views of species both familar and unfamiliar. The latter category included a first for my lens (but not for me), a female Serin...

A Goldfinch fed, apparently oblivious to the tourists, alongside the path in the dasies...

Ring-Necked Parakeets are always a little controversial as they are aliens, but regardless of any opinions they seem to be hardy and adaptable enough to live in most European cities and are rather comical in their nest holes. First we see the head...

...then out it pops...!

The gardens of the city are actually surprisingly birdful, especially with some of the commoner species. This would include the House Sparrows, who were particularly fond of dust-bathing...

As well as the ubiquitious Hous Sparrows, there were the prettier and more exciting Tree Sparrows. I had an absolute field day with these birds, hiding in the villa borghese between the hedges (much to the bemusement of the locals) and snapping them as they waddled along the tree-lined avenues...

There's that phrase 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do', and clearly this Gull followed it too rigidly, for it murdered and consumed a pigeon in the most foul way imaginable. The two were feeding side by side, before the gull grabbed it and held it in a fountain until it drowned. At first the bloodied corpse resembled a bird...

..before being torn into progressively smaller and less recognisable pieces. This truly was nature red in tooth and claw (and beak and feather)...